PUNE:
UPSC
on Wednesday revoked the provisional candidature of IAS trainee officer
Puja Khedkar
for the Civil Services Examination-2022 and barred her from all future exams and selections conducted by the commission.
According to an official release, Khedkar was found guilty of violating the
CSE-2022 rules
. UPSC also reviewed records of over 15,000 candidates from 2009 to 2023, and identified Khedkar as the sole candidate who exceeded the attempt limit through “
identity manipulation
“.
UPSC lodged a criminal complaint with Delhi Police on July 19 against Khedkar for forging identity papers.
“The standard operating procedure of the UPSC could not detect her number of attempts primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents’ names,” the release says.
If found guilty of wrongful claims, Khedkar could face termination
Pune: UPSC’s action to revoke Puja Khedkar’s candidature followed her failure to respond to the commission’s
show-cause notice
, issued on July 18, for “fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit provided for in the CSE Rules, by faking her identity”, reports Nisha Nambiar.
Khedkar changed her name, her parents’ names, her photograph, signature, email ID, mobile number, and address to conceal her real identity and gain additional attempts to appear in the exam, the official note says.
UPSC had asked Khedkar to respond to the showcause notice by July 25, but she had requested time till Aug 4 to collect necessary documents. The commission extended the deadline till July 30.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had also issued a showcause notice to Khedkar, asking her to explain by Aug 2 her position on various allegations against her. The showcause was sent on July 26 following a single-member committee’s report to verify Khedkar’s candidature claims and other details based on the report filed by Maharashtra govt. “She has time till Aug 2. We do not want to predetermine anything. We will wait for her response and deliberate after Aug 2 if she can be given more time. Nothing can be said as of now,” a DoPT official said in response to UPSC cancelling Khedkar’s provisional candidature.
A DoPT team is examining the panel’s findings and will recommend necessary action. If found guilty of making
wrongful claims
, Khedkar can face
termination
from service.
“As UPSC has cancelled her provisional candidature, DoPT will issue a final order based on the single-member committee’s inquiry report. A final decision on action againstKhedkar will come from DoPT,” an LBSNAA official in Mussoorie said.
UPSC has clarified its role in the scrutiny of certificates, stating it conducts only preliminary checks and relies on the competent authorities for verification of authenticity.